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What's up guys, George Camel here, and today we're talking about something that about half of you regrettably suck at. Yeah, talking about the S-word today. Saving.
Oh, okay. Now, before you get your cinnamon in a swirl, I have hard-hitting evidence that five out of ten Americans right now have less than $1,000 in savings. Now, that's what I call sucks. We're screwed. Yep. And if you're one of those people struggling to put away even $1,000, reaching a number like $100,000 probably feels as far-fetched as convincing Tom Cruise to face off in a foot race. The man is fast.
But trust me, saving 100,000 in cash is mission possible. And not just in some distant and far away future when you're yachting on the weekends with Val Kilmer. You can accomplish this in just a handful of years or even faster. And you'll find out how to get there by the end of this video. But first, help me help you by clicking those like and subscribe buttons to get us to the goal of 300,000 subscribers. If we reach 300,000 by Thanksgiving of 2024, I will jump up and down on this chair like Tom on Oprah Winfrey.
Have you ever felt this way? That is unless I pull something else in the process, which is likely. I have minor scoliosis. I don't want to talk about it. All right. For starters, let's set some ground rules. Uncle George is all about saving money unless you're in debt, because saving money while you're in debt would be like pouring cashew milk in a cup with a hole at the bottom. Creamy as it may be, the strategy is not going to work for you.
The key here is to save $1,000, but then move on to debt payoff. Don't save any more until your debt is paid off using the debt snowball method. Once you got debt out of your life, you want to go back and fully fund your emergency fund to three to six months of expenses.
Then we can move on to other money goals because we have a financial foundation under our feet. So let's talk about this $100K in savings. For fun, let's pretend this is for a solid down payment on a great home with a fenced-in yard and a spare bedroom you plan to dedicate wholly to the art of Lego. Now, when it comes to a big savings goal like $100,000, there's a huge mistake a lot of people make that can sabotage their plan. And that mistake is...
They don't have a plan. I don't even have a plan. And lucky for you, that mistake is totally avoidable. And what's more, having a plan is the very thing that will help you accomplish your goal faster than you thought possible. It's like the old adage goes, how do you eat an elephant? With rosemary, a squeeze of lemon, and of course, one bite at a time.
So start your plan by breaking your $100,000 goal down into more palatable numbers. Here's what that might look like. To get to 100,000 in five years, you'd need to save $20,000 per year. If you want to get there in four years, you would need to save $25,000 per year. Or if four years feels too long for your millennial attention span, you can take it down to three years, which means saving $33,000 per year and some change.
Which I know still probably doesn't feel palatable. But lest we forget what The Truman Show, Pulp Fiction, and A Bug's Life once taught us. Perspective is everything. And that's why we need to break our $33,000 a year number down even further. And that starts to look like $2,700 a month for 36 months. Doesn't saving $2,700 a month feel a lot more realistic than finding $100,000 willy-nilly? Yes, definitely!
And side note here, if you're doing the math, I know that number comes out a little short, but we're going to account for that a little bit later. So now that we've broken things down, the question is, where the heck am I going to get an extra $2,700 a month for the next 36 months? Well, there are three places you can always count on finding money. Your couch cushions, behind your Uncle Greg's ear, and of course, your budget. And because Greg can't fit more than a silver dollar back there, I suggest starting with your budget. And if you don't have a budget, start by making one.
I know it sounds way too simple, but first time users of the EveryDollar budgeting app immediately find an extra 350 bucks when they make their first budget. So don't knock it. Go download the EveryDollar app and get started. Now, let's say you get your budget together and begin to do some trimming in order to find extra money. You start cutting things like unnecessary subscriptions. For example, Paramount Plus with Showtime. That's 15 bucks. Your CrossFit gym membership.
I mean, from the very first thruster, you knew it was only a matter of time. That's an extra 185 bucks. And let's say you scale way back on eating out, which is easily 150 bucks a month. Look at that. You've already found 350 bucks really easily that you can put towards that monthly $2,700 goal.
Amazing. But you know you can do so much more. This is just the tip of the iceberg. So you shop your insurance with an independent agent and realize you could save 40 bucks a month switching providers with the same coverage. That's 40 bucks right there. Then you remember you usually get a big thousand dollar tax refund every year that you blow on a vacation to the slots in Tunica. But not this year. Forget the Mai Tais at the Gold Strike Casino or Resort. You're going all in on this goal. So you adjust your tax withholdings, which puts about 80 bucks back in your paycheck
each month. Oh, and because you're saving this 100k for a house down payment, I'm okay if you pause investing in retirement for a couple of years and put that money towards your savings goal to help just make sure you get back to investing within two years because I don't want you to miss out on any more compound growth than that.
So let's say hypothetically you make $75,000 a year and you've been investing 15%. Well, if you paused investing, that would give you 930 bucks a month to put toward your goal. So after trimming your spending and making some other budget adjustments, you found yourself about $1,400 a month to put toward your $2,700 a month goal. And let's be honest, it wasn't that hard. Super easy, barely an inconvenience. And now you're halfway there and all you need is an additional 1,300 bucks.
And because you've done pretty much all you can do to spend less, it's time to look at how you can make more. Now, obviously, one place to go is your full-time job and talk to your employer about what a growth plan would look like and how you can be making more money over time. But let's say you're happy to stay in the zone at AutoZone where you're getting paid fairly, $75,000. Plus, you get a discount on blinker fluid.
Big win. - Okay, now that's actually a sweet deal. - And in that case, I'd suggest finding a side hustle or two to come up with the extra dough. Now, even if you're new to the side hustle game, it's easy to get started and it's a really common thing to do. In fact, two in five Americans have a side hustle and on average, they make $810 per month doing them. So finding a side hustle that will make you 1300 is extremely possible.
And that's a part of my story. I did a bunch of side hustles when I was getting out of debt, when I was saving up for a house, and even when I was paying off my mortgage. Things like driving for Uber, designing websites, marketing consulting. I even considered being Reba McEntire's cabana boy for a summer. But eventually, she blocked my emails. ♪ I guess the world didn't stop me ♪
♪ My broken heart ♪ - And the trick to all of this is try to find things that you're good at and things that you enjoy if possible. And there are so many other side hustles out there and you could clean houses, tutor kids, flip lawnmowers, fix computers, proofread content, manage someone's social media accounts, take family photos, sell sourdough, freelance design, babysit, house sit, dog sit, cat sit, even turtle sit. I've seen it done. It's pretty boring. ♪ Turtle, turtle, turtle, turtle, turtle ♪
So let's say you decide to take your passion for a dust-free odometer, combine that with a discount at AutoZone, and you start an at-home car detailing side hustle. If you charge $200 per car, which, by the way, is a fair market price, you would need to detail seven cars a month to make that $1,300, which is basically a couple Saturdays of work.
And before you know it, a handful of Lexi later, that's plural for Lexus, you just reached your $2,700 a month goal. So to recap, to come up with that 2,700, you found about 1,400 by cutting back expenses, and then you found a way to make an extra 1,300 by working a few extra days a month.
But remember when I said $2,700 a month for 36 months will come up a skoshy of that $100K goal? About $2,800 short to be exact? Well, you're going to make that money by storing your $100,000 of savings in a high-yield savings account that earns you, right now, about 5%.
like the one offered by our sponsor of today's episode, Laurel Road. Using a high yield savings account is one of my favorite tricks to making your savings work harder for you. I mean, you're basically making money while you sleep with these things. And that's why I love what online bank Laurel Road has to offer. Not only will your account balance earn 5% APY, but there's a ton of other great perks. No minimum balance required to open your account. Your deposits are FDIC insured, and there's no monthly maintenance fees that you can only assume other banks use to maintain the shrub
It's time your money started making money. So go to laurelroad.com slash george or click the link in the description to get started and open your account today. And while you're down there clicking around, you'll see another link for another sponsor of today's show, Delete Me. Now, I'm not the first one to tell you the internet can be a risky place. You click a link, you buy a Guy Fieri-inspired t-shirt. Next thing you know, bada bing, bada boom, some cyber thief has all of your private information, your address, your card number,
Not to mention your very personal and clever password, take me to Flavortown, but all of the A's are an at symbol. That one's on me. That's why I use and recommend Delete.me. They remove your info from data broker websites all across the internet. Plus, to make life even easier, Delete.me will send you a simple report showing exactly what they did. And with my special code, you can join Delete.me on a one-year plan for less than nine bucks a month. So get some cyber peace of mind by going to joindelete.me.com slash george today.
or just click the link in the description. Now back to our 100k goal. Before you come at me with things like, "But George, three years is gonna take forever!" No, it's not gonna take forever. It's going to take three years. "Well, he's got me there."
And being intentional for three years is going to get you to 100K way faster than hoping you wander your way into it with some wishful thinking. Plus, is it really that long? I mean, there's boxes in your trunk that you were going to drop off at Goodwill that have been back there way longer than three years. And there's entire ecosystems growing in there. It's disgusting. Oh, no, not this again. Zach, cover your mouth. Don't breathe it in.
Bottom line, your season of sacrifice will pass. And after three years, would you rather be wealthier and have an incredible down payment for your new house? Or would you rather hang on to a lifestyle that's unsustainable and be nowhere near that Lego room where you can proudly display your replica of the Lincoln Memorial? So this video is all about how to get to 100K in savings. And this is the prequel, baby. 'Cause in the sequel, in this next video, I show you how your net worth explodes
once you get to 100K. So be sure to check that out next. And let me know in the comments what you're currently saving for. And don't forget to share this with a friend who might need some tips as he gets serious about saving for that sauna reno in his master bath. As always, thanks for watching. We'll see you next time.
